Veteran MMO player: What class to play?

I have been playing MMO's since Everquest. I usually play non healing support like Enchanter, Bard, Verdant Animist(all time favorite bubble spammer), Coercer, Dominator, and Druid, Shaman from WoW. I love supporting my team either through debuffs, buffs, bubbles that prevent damage or reactives that increase damage, and cc.

I am looking for 'my class' in swtor but the classes seem to play differently. I have a 17 Scoundrel that is fun so far. I like his utility in Pve but I don't want to be a main healer in Pve or PvP so I'm not sure about him.

I surprisinly like my 15 Vanguard tank because he has range and several debuffs that you normally find on support. I normally don't like to tank but he is interesting so far.

I thought the sage bubble spec would be a no brainer for me but I really don't like the small range on Jedis plus at lvl 11, I don't have the bubble yet and I get creamed standing and healing or doing project at 30 range. I still think I will lvl him to 14 to get the bubble and try it out but I have been underwhelmed so far. I like Scoundrel and Vanguard better for now.

Which class can best bring non healing support to the team. I don't mind some healing but I don't want to be main heal.

I guess you could go hybrid on a build to get a "support" effect going, but this game was really designed around the "1 tank, 2 dps, 1 healer" paradigm. So in a way, at least to me, there really isn't a "Support Class" in the traditional sense. Every class has some buffs and debuffs. Some way to support each other and offer more, while still doing it's primary job of Tanking, damage or healing. This is part of the reason all classes have quite a bit of skills is, at least a 1/3 of them are status effects. Bubbles, Stuns, enemy acc debuffs, enemy slow debuffs, etc.

From what you're saying, for my own reference, it reminds me of a Red Mage. The closest I could see of something truly supportive would be...Consular/Inquisitor? Could do something like this.

They have quite a bit of range. They have a skill in a branch that increases their range attacks even further, and you can offer quite a bit of support with movement slows, defensive bubbles & heals, AoE damage, 1 min stuns, etc. I think the only problem is, you may get quite a bit of complainers about how you're "useless" cause you're not cranking out enough damage or can't keep up with healing, etc.

I'm sure other people will offer different opinions and options, but I would say... keep playing with the different classes. Get up to, at least, lvl 20. Have fun with it. If you can't have fun with it on a basic level, move on. You may find a class you enjoy that you thought you wouldn't (like the Vanguard you were talking about)

SWTOR definitely broke away from the support class, by giving almost every class some form of CC/debuff. That role is really shared among the entire group now. My primary character is a Guardian tank, and typically on a large pull (3 champs, 2 elites) I'll mark one or two of the champs to be CC'd and then we jump in.

The DPS burn down the elites real quickly (as they can easily handle them without me needing to tank them) while I keep any champions that haven't been locked down fighting me. But that CC will come from healers, DPS, sometimes even the tank!

But if you don't care for tanking, or healing, I'd definitely say check out damage dealers, especially ones with a universal CC (like the Sage/Sorcerer). I don't play a Sage, but my Sorcerer has great range, hurling lightning bolts with reckless abandon.

Like someone else said there is no real support type class, everyone has some sort of CC and interrupt. It really comes down to your play style preference and what advanced class you pick as that will limit what you can potentially do.

If you pick a pure DPS class and you do flashpoints make sure you keep an eye on the healer. So many groups I have been in just focus on the champion/elite mobs and ignore the normal ones which end up beating on the healer. As a DPS you should be killing the normal mobs first, dead healer = bad news.

For PVP I quite enjoy playing my sage/inquisitor. They have a great set of abilities but I play as a healer which you said you didn't want to do but for pvp I find it the easiest way to ensure my teams victory.

Assassins are also quite fun, you get stealth and the option to tank if you so desire. I've also enjoyed playing my Gunslinger/Agent which is just a pure DPS class. Only downside is as DPS the queues are quite long (Usually 30mins to an hour). With my healer it's nearly always instant. So it's nice to pick a class that you can swap between DPS and Healer or tank for the queues.

And if you unlock the legacy perk that lets you respec anywhere it's pretty awesome to have that flexibility.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.Carl Sagan

I think you have hit on something. The best support class in SWTOR is a damage dealer who can back up a tank or healer so that the healer is not as stressed. A DPS class with a taunt can pull agro away from a healer and a DPS with some healing ability can heal thyself or heal others to take some of the stress off of a healer.

It might not be what you are looking for, asegaimar, but there's your "support."

also keep in mind (seeing as you don't seem to have any toons that reached 20 yet) that each class starts to shine around level 30, so don't expect to get the full feel of a toon by only leveling to lvl 15. not to mention, you barely even begin to scratch what bonuses your skill trees offer in the beginning.

my advice would be to at least finish chapter 1 with each toon (you'll be around lvl 30-34 by then) before you pass judgment. at least then you'll have a larger selection of skills at your disposal, and will have had time to experiment more with your skill trees and rotations.

I think you have hit on something. The best support class in SWTOR is a damage dealer who can back up a tank or healer so that the healer is not as stressed. A DPS class with a taunt can pull agro away from a healer and a DPS with some healing ability can heal thyself or heal others to take some of the stress off of a healer.

It might not be what you are looking for, asegaimar, but there's your "support."

Merc/commando DPS offer great "support" in the sense that you can self-heal and cleanse. It may not be considered a full support roll as you will still be looked at as DPS, but i can't tell you the number of times i have saved raid wipes with my merc's off-healing.

Actually that is what I was inferring about the scoundrel and vanguard. They both offer abilities consigned to support claasses but that is not their direct role. I like the range dmg, guard, dps debuff,etc on vanguard and I like the off heal, cc, and dmg potential of scoundrel. I also have an 11 commando that I put on hold but may need to reconsider.

However, right now I'm looking at a dps vanguard with liberal use of guard, debuffs, cc to off tank and support. I'm also looking at dps scoundrel with a dot or at least who pays attention to need for back up heals.

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The statements and opinions expressed on these websites are solely those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, nor are they endorsed by Bioware, LucasArts, and its licensors do not guarantee the accuracy of, and are in no way responsible for any content on these websites.